Now that we have that, let us define the individual words of that ever important phrase, just for comprehensiveness:

Merriam-Webster defines ‘informed’ as having information; educated, knowledgable. Having accurate information is critical and necessary to being informed and one can only be educated and knowledgable if they are informed.

It defines ‘citizen’ as an inhabitant of a city, town or state; especially: one entitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman; a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it. So as a citizen of the United States you are entitled to full civil and political rights, and protection by your government.

So, using various similar definitions we can use critical thinking and common sense to reach the conclusion of what an informed citizen actually means. An informed citizen is someone who uses reliable information from multiple sources to understand subjects and situations, thus used to create appropriate judgements to understand their government and more importantly what is happening in the world around them.Simply put, someone who thinks for themselves and strives to fully understand their society and governance on all levels. That doesn’t mean you have to be a lawyer, or a scholar, but it does mean you have to fully understand your rights and the role your government plays in your life, and use that knowledge to draw informed conclusions.

Okay, let’s get to the meat of this. First, I would like to get some facts out onto the stage. The first one being the second amendment to our constitution:

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

-The Bill of Rights

Now, a lot of people “interpret” that in different ways, mainly because of the comma after state. I ignore those “interpretations” and get to the literal meaning. What it basically means is that every state will have a regulated, trained military force made up of common people to defend said free state when the main body of the military is unable to. We call them the national guard today. The second part is the important part for you; people have the right to bear arms and your government cannot hinder that undeniable right in anyway.